The little green bean in big fracking demand

Little bean in big demand – Farmer Rajinder Kumar at work in his guar field. Guar is a desert crop that thrives in hot weather and needs little water.

Hide Caption

1 of 8

8 photos

Little bean in big demand – Guar seeds are collected from the guar bean (pictured) and crushed to form guar gum powder, a crucial ingredient in the fracking process that oil companies use to extract natural gas.

Hide Caption

2 of 8

8 photos

Little bean in big demand – Kumar bought a tractor with the money he earned by growing and selling his guar crop.

Hide Caption

3 of 8

8 photos

Little bean in big demand – Kumar also started construction on a new house for his family. He bought bricks for it five years ago, but could not build it because he was heavily in debt. Thanks to guar farming, he has paid off his debt.

Hide Caption

4 of 8

8 photos

Little bean in big demand – Kumar's family has paid off almost $12,000 of debt with the money earned from guar farming. They have also bought an air cooler, two Samsung phones, and a satellite dish.

Hide Caption

5 of 8

8 photos

Little bean in big demand – Farmers sell guar seeds in the open market. Prices have risen tenfold in the last year.

Hide Caption

6 of 8

8 photos

Little bean in big demand – Guar seeds are crushed in the factory to form guar gum powder.

Hide Caption

7 of 8

8 photos

Little bean in big demand – Bags of guar gum powder are ready to be exported to the U.S.

Weak monsoon season impacts India crops

Just Watched

CNN Explains: Fracking

Oil and gas companies in the United States have developed a massive appetite for guar gum powder -- a key ingredient in a process called fracking, which is used to extract natural and shale gas from beneath the Earth's surface.

Guar gum powder has unique binding, thickening and emulsifying qualities which make it ideal for fracking, explains B.D. Agarwal, the founder and managing director of Vikas WSP, an Indian company that specializes in producing the product.

So far, oil companies have not been able to find a suitable substitute, he says.

Since 90% of the world's guar is grown in the desert belt of northwest India, local farmers in this poor area are enjoying the benefit of the guar rush.

Kumar says he had debts of almost $12,000. "I thought I'd never be able to pay it off," he says.

"There is a saying that in a house where there's no food, there are fights. We used to fight all the time."

But thanks to the high price of guar these days, Kumar has been able to pay off his debt. He's building a house for his family, has bought mobile phones, an air cooler and a satellite dish. He can afford to send his children to school. "We are all happy now," he adds.

Agarwal, meanwhile, is confident the guar rush will grow. He says shale gas reserves have been identified in 32 countries and 48 basins around the world, including India. Only the U.S. and Canada, and very recently Argentina, have attempted to extract it. China is expected to start fracking by the end of the year.

As demand grows, Agarwal predicts the value of the guar industry will jump, suggesting it could go from a $2 billion business today, to $200 billion by 2020.

So he's encouraging farmers like Rajinder to keep growing it.

In May this year, Vikas gave 15 kilograms of guar seeds to 200,000 farmers and guaranteed them returns.

"Everyone in the village is now growing guar," Kumar's wife, Dayawanti, says. "No one talks of anything else. It's changed the village. If you came here two years ago, you wouldn't see joy on anyone's face."

Her neighbors' house is bursting with joy. Musicians beat traditional drums to welcome guests as the community gets together to celebrate a marriage.

The bridegroom -- also a guar farmer -- says he would never have been able to afford this pomp if it wasn't for guar.